From the moment Stephen Libby set foot in The Traitors castle in a perfectly tailored blue jacket, it should have been clear he had come dressed to kill.
Week after week, the dapper Scot showed up in a succession of outré outfits that caught the attention of fellow competitors and viewers alike.
In bold colours and clashing patterns, he dazzled in outlandishly flared chinos, psychedelic shirts and extremely tight jumpsuits, all worn with the kind of ease that suggested this wasn’t accidental – which, it turns out, it wasn’t.
Indeed, channelling his inner Baz Luhrmann was part of a cunning – and, it turns out, winning – ruse to throw a league of suspicious Traitor hunters off his scent.
Speaking on the hit BBC One show’s sister programme Uncloaked, after scooping £47,875 in the show’s tense Season 4 finale, the 32-year-old from the Isle of Lewis admitted that before entering the castle, he feared his fresh-faced Hebridean looks and tendency towards reddening cheeks would betray him.
So he fell back on the simplest of ploys – to hide in plain sight behind mile-wide shirt collars and vaultingly high-waisted jeans, his bold fashion statements distracting from the lies pouring forth from his mouth.
From the moment Stephen Libby set foot in The Traitors castle in a perfectly tailored blue jacket, it should have been clear he had come dressed to kill
Week after week, the dapper Scot showed up in a succession of outré outfits that caught the attention of fellow competitors and viewers alike
Without his flamboyant togs he might have proved just another also-ran, but gussied up like a sparkling clothes horse, he became a thoroughbred. ‘I just love fashion and I love clothing and I think it’s actually a really good way of kind of getting people to let their guard down in terms of how you look,’ he said.
‘It did help distract from the face and the facial expressions and kind of kept people’s eyes down.’
Yet, such a smart plan might still have failed without the ineffable warmth of his personality and a natural charm which appeared to set his rivals at ease.
It is, arguably, no coincidence he was able to forge a loyal alliance with fellow Traitor, Rachel Duffy, 42, which carried them all the way to a share of the £95,750 prize pot watched by a rapt television audience of almost ten million.
‘Two Traitors who remained faithful to each other,’ purred host Claudia Winkleman. Loyal Traitors – a marketing dream.
But Libby brought an extra dimension with those clothes.
Sharp mind, even sharper style, offering perhaps the complete package to visually minded brand managers and TV producers.
Even the ultra-stylish Winkleman found herself relegated to support player at the Stephen Libby catwalk extravaganza.
All of which prompts much speculation about where Libby’s colourful journey might take him next. Amid the frenetic whirl of media interviews, the enormity of his win appears to be only now sinking in despite the fact he has had to sit on the news for several months since filming ended.
In bold colours and clashing patterns, he dazzled in outlandishly flared chinos, psychedelic shirts and extremely tight jumpsuits, all worn with the kind of ease that suggested this wasn’t accidental – which, it turns out, it wasn’t
Indeed, channelling his inner Baz Luhrmann was part of a cunning – and, it turns out, winning – ruse to throw a league of suspicious Traitor hunters off his scent (seen with co-winner Rachel)
Libby brought an extra dimension with those clothes. Sharp mind, even sharper style, offering perhaps the complete package to visually minded brand managers and TV producers
Even the ultra-stylish Winkleman found herself relegated to support player at the Stephen Libby catwalk extravaganza
Things have already changed immeasurably for the Glasgow University languages graduate, who quit his job as a cyber security consultant since appearing on the show. He has spoken about wanting to do something that he was passionate about and that would make him ‘really happy’.
He said: ‘I’ve worked since I was 15 and I’ve worked hard. I worked two jobs all the way through university, so this is an opportunity to take a wee break and that really is all it is. I want to relax for a bit and give myself a bit of time.’
If that proves to be in showbusiness, he is well set up.
His partner, Daniel Quirke, is an actor and painter and the pair are close friends with rising comedy star Lou Sanders.
But he said: ‘I know people who have careers in this kind of industry, but that’s not me and it’s not my life. And it isn’t something that I know anything about.
‘I would love to just make sure that in the future I’m doing something that genuinely makes me happy. I’ve never hated my job in cyber security, but it’s not something that I feel passionate about.
‘I’ve lots of things I feel passionate about, and I would be a very lucky boy if I could work in one of those areas, because it’s not something everyone gets to do.
‘When this all settles down a little bit, I’ll sit with myself and think, ‘what is it that would make me really happy?” Well dear Faithfuls, should we accept his protestations that showbiz is not for him? The problem with winning The Traitors, a game based on deception, is that no-one can ever be sure whether to believe a single word you say.
If it is a bluff, then he has proved himself adept at dealing with the rash of media interest which has come his way since, garnering a sizeable following on social media as a gay fashion icon while a recent brush with pop royalty gave him a taste of what beckons.
Doing the rounds of TV and radio interviews, he was stunned by an encounter with Take That, when members of the legendary boyband unexpectedly begged him for a ‘selfie’.
When Scott Mills introduced Libby to Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen on his Radio 2 breakfast show last week, the trio erupted into applause before Barlow exclaimed: ‘We’re so excited to meet you!’ They got on so well that Libby ended up inviting them to visit his native Stornoway, saying: ‘You’ve got to come. My mum’s invited half of London already.’
For now, Libby is basking in his moment in the sun, but if he wants the fame to last more than 15 minutes he will be urged to grasp it while he is hot property.
With his easy manner and boyish good looks, opportunities will open up – just as they have for previous winners.
PR specialist Mark Borkowski described Libby as a ‘PR dream – but only if nobody panics and creates a fashion cliché’.
However, he agreed the vibrant wardrobe could help: ‘It’s a visual shorthand: confident, joyful, a bit defiant. Add an easy, unselfconscious way with the camera and you’ve got something.
‘Fashion is an obvious route, observational or travel-adjacent programming that lets his curiosity do the heavy lifting.’
However, he warned that while game shows and reality spin-offs were ‘tempting sugar hits, longevity in television often hinges on learning when to say no’.
A number of previous winners of the show, which has been a jewel in the BBC schedule since 2022, have made the transition to showbiz.
Take Harry Clark, who pocketed £95,150 when he won series 2 and who runs a popular podcast with fellow Traitors contestant Paul Gorton, called Harry and Paul’s Guide to Life.
The former British Army engineer, who still lives with his parents in Slough, Berkshire, has hosted numerous short films for BBC’s The One Show and fronted a film in Normandy as part of the 80th Anniversary of D-Day Concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
He has the reality TV bug, telling ITV’s Lorraine that he fancied a stint on I’m A Celebrity, while he has also appeared on Pilgrimage, Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, Saturday Mash Up, The Weakest Link and Comic Relief.
Last year, he was booted off Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins after being suspected of behaving dishonestly during a trust-based exercise.
Aaron Evans was an estate agent when he won the first series with Hannah Byczkowski and Meryl Williams. The trio shared a £101,050 prize pot and Evans later appeared on Celebrity Mastermind and Channel 4’s First Dates, where he revealed that he gave his winnings to his mother, before adding: ‘Well I gave her the £33,000 and then asked for three grand back, because I was skint.’
With his easy manner and boyish good looks, opportunities will open up – just as they have for previous winners
A number of previous winners of the show, which has been a jewel in the BBC schedule since 2022, have made the transition to showbiz
In 2024, he also appeared in the US version of Love Island.
Fellow winner Byczkowski said she quit her job when she couldn’t secure time off to film The Traitors and is now trying to build a career as a comedian.
She co-hosts the podcast Ghost Huns and has appeared on Celebrity Weakest Link and ITV’s Stand Up Sketch Show.
Offering advice to fellow winners, she told BBC Radio Stoke the money had given her a welcome financial cushion, but added: ‘Everybody kind of thinks that once the show’s finished you ride the wave and it is all gravy forever, but the hard work starts when the show ends.’
By contrast, Libby’s fellow Traitor, communications boss Rachel Duffy, from Newry, Northern Ireland, insists she has no plans to quit her job any time soon and return to reality TV, although she has written ‘a contemporary fantasy novel for young adults’, which she hopes to get published on the back of her success.
Should the lure of showbusiness prove overwhelming, Libby can count on support from several corners. One is his compelling backstory as a boy who struggled in silence with his sexuality as he grew up in a quiet cul-de-sac overlooking the staunchly Presbyterian town of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.
He won more hearts and minds for opening up on the show about his teenage experiences, saying how ‘for the longest time I kind of hated myself actually’.
‘I lost my teenage years going to church, trying to pray myself normal,’ he added.
He has praised his mother Nicola, a specialist nurse, and father Donald, a butcher who also creates artworks from driftwood, for giving ‘absolutely everything’ to ensure he and his brother had ‘the most incredible childhood’. Having moved to London eight years ago, Libby says he now looks forward to trips to the island, regarding it as ‘a real safe haven for me and I feel truly at peace every time I come back’.
Another plus is the sizeable online support he has amassed during The Traitors’ three-week run with more than 283,000 Instagram followers lapping up frequent posts about his life with Quirke and his love of travel, including visits to Japan, Vietnam, Spain and the US.
Having a partner in the trade, who knows its highs and lows, could stand him in good stead.
He and Quirke, who has starred in Netflix shows such as The Sandman and Geek Girl, have been together since 2022 and Libby has been introduced to a wide circle of actors, while the couple enjoy a close friendship with comedian and actress Sanders, who recently featured in Amazon Prime’s Last One Laughing.
Eagle-eyed TikTok users spotted Sanders looking shocked in a video Libby posted on the platform after he was revealed as a Traitor for the first time.
If the old adage – it’s not what you know but who you know – still holds true, then such connections could prove key to any career take-off.
But, ultimately, it is Libby’s engaging personality – and eccentric style – that will set him apart.
After all, it takes a certain kind of nerve to carry off a black and white jumpsuit to face down your rivals in the show’s endgame.
Ultimately, it is Libby’s engaging personality – and eccentric style – that will set him apart (seen on This Morning last week)
He is seen with fellow Traitor Rachel in their dark green cloaks
Fashionistas recognised the ‘wow piece’ from Palomo Spain’s Tiburón autumn/winter 2022 collection and noted that pop star Harry Styles wore a custom version at Wembley that year.
Other creations he graced Ardross Castle with included an eye-catching red kilt, chic knitwear and those wide trousers, leading one expert to declare the series ‘the most fashionable yet’.
Carolyn Mair, a chartered psychologist and author of The Psychology of Fashion, told the BBC: ‘What we wear says a huge amount about us,’ concluding: ‘[Stephen] wanted to be seen. He was choosing to be noticed.’
The Traitors will return to screens soon enough. The most colourful Traitor, one supposes, will not be far behind.
